In the Old Testament God promised material prosperity to his faithful followers. He made Abraham wealthy with large flocks of livestock. Later, when God was bringing the Israelites to the promised land he promised prosperity if they followed the laws he had just given to them at Mt. Sinai. “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit” (Lev. 26:3-4, ESV).
In the New Testament we find a new approach to material prosperity and possessions. In Matthew 6:19-34 Jesus teaches us how to relate to money and possessions: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth . . . but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . . for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matt. 6:19-21, NIV). The antidote to materialism is saving up for your eternal retirement. This keeps our hearts pure from disordered attachment to possessions. Of course, we have material needs but we have a Father who knows our needs and directs us to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you” (Matt. 6:33, NIV). And even though he was the Lord of glory and destined to be enthroned as king of the world, he had “no place to lay his head” (Luke 9:58, NIV). Is he not our model for our heart’s relationship with material things?
The Apostle Paul had very few possessions and considered himself a model for believers. In 1 Corinthians 4:8-16 Paul sets a standard for Christian maturity and possessions. Quoting from verses 11-16:
To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me.
1 Cor. 4:11-16 (ESV)
Paul wanted the believers to imitate him. We will do that too?
This present age is the age of following in the footsteps of Jesus in order to demonstrate to those around us what it looks like to live as an image-bearer of God in the midst of a sinful destructive world. We are learning to crucify destructive desires, letting God reorder our affections and attachments, and prioritize life in the Spirit.
Wealth and worldly success are not promised to faithful believers in this age. They may come to us, but they are not a privilege of belonging to Christ. Therefore, let us detach our hearts from wealth and possessions, and seek God’s kingdom first and accept whatever comes.
